Russian conscript killed in Ukraine reportedly had contract signed for him by commanding officer

A 20-year-old soldier from Sakhalin island in Russia’s Far East who was killed in action in Ukraine allegedly had his contract with the Defence Ministry signed for him by his commanding officer, Telegram channel Sakhalin Against War reported on Tuesday, citing information from its readers.

Sakhalin region Governor Valery Limarenko announced the death of Nikita Molochkovsky earlier this month. “Sad news from the special military operation zone, where Corporal Nikita Molochkovsky … was killed in the line of duty,” Limarenko wrote, calling him, and six other Sakhalin servicemen who were also killed on the front line, patriots.

On 19 November Molochkovsky’s mother posted about her son leaving home to begin his compulsory military service on popular Russian social media platform Odnoklassniki. On 7 July she posted that he was going to the front line, writing, “My son Nikita is leaving for the special military operation. Almost all the guys doing their military service are being sent there,” independent media outlet 7x7 reported.

Shortly after launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vladimir Putin promised that new recruits doing their one-year military service would not be deployed in combat operations in Ukraine.

Despite Putin’s assurance, however, there have been a growing number of media reports of conscripts being sent into combat in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region to tackle the Ukrainian army’s ongoing incursion there, some of whom have been captured and are being held as prisoners of war by Ukraine.